Quaker_turrell_032901

James Turrell wants us to see the light. But not the way we normally do. "We generally use [light] to illuminate other things," Turrell has said, "but I wanted to force people to pay attention to the thingness and revelation of light."

Turrell is known for Roden Crater, a cinder volcano in the Arizona desert that he is transforming, using light, into an enormous work of art. In his smaller works, too, he refers constantly to light. He has incorporated the ever-changing quality of light into his innovative series of "Sky Spaces" -- a series of rooms with open ceilings. In this interview, Turrell talks about how his upbringing as a Quaker has left him fascinated with the Quaker practice of "greeting the light."

In 1999, Turrell began work on the Live Oak Friends Meetinghouse, which was completed in 2000. At its heart is a Sky Space with a retractable roof, called "Meeting."